1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to hair treatment systems that are used to style people's hair as desired, and more specifically, relates to a hair treatment device and method that can be used to provide volume and body to the human hair.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently there exist a number of different hair treatment devices and hair irons that are used to style/shape, straighten, or curl the hair, some of which also provide a steam function during the styling process. Examples of existing hair treatment devices have been disclosed in various patents, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,603,765; 5,934,293; 6,119,702; 6,173,718; 6,325,072; 6,494,216; 6,622,735; and U.S. published applications numbered 2002/0036000 (application Ser. No. 09/885,711), 2002/0190047 (Ser. No. 10/165,846), 2004/0003824 (Ser. No. 10/390,579), and 2004/0163661 (Ser. No. 10/686,497).
Existing hair irons and hair styling devices typically have a handle and a pair of arms joined by a pivot to enable the opening and closing of the arms, with each arm having a hair engaging surface that is flat or curved to conform to and join with the opposite surface. Such devices are typically powered by electricity and are provided with the capability to apply heat and/or steam to the hair engaging surfaces. In these existing devices, the portion of the human hair that is to be treated is placed between the opposite surfaces of the arms, and when the arms are closed, that portion of the hair is subjected to pressure (gripping force) and heat (and/or steam), and as the pair of engaging surfaces are slowly moved across the length of the hair, the portion of the hair placed between the engaging surfaces is straightened or styled in a particular shape as desired by the user or the stylist.
However, one drawback of the existing hair irons and hair styling devices is that while they allow the user to shape or straighten the hair from wavy to straight or from straight to wavy, they leave the hair limp or flat and cannot add a desired amount of volume to the hair. This is because adding volume to hair requires the hair to be “lifted” near its root portion such that the hair can maintain its lift for a relatively significant time (days or weeks), but existing hair styling devices are not designed to cause such lift in the root portion and instead are designed to style or shape the portion of the hair extended further away from the root.
In view of the foregoing, a hair treatment device and method is needed that is capable of causing the root portion of limp or flat hair to be lifted away from the scalp to create volume and body in the hair for an extended period of time (days or weeks). The present invention fulfills these and other needs.